Starting 2021 as I mean to go on: with a good book in my hands. In some ways I have become less curious and more settled in ways of thinking, and that is something I intend to change through reading a broad range of perspectives this year. Documenting with a book thread...

My first book of 2021 could not be more relevant or uplifting: How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division, by @Elif_Safak. Social commentary written with poetic insight. Champions plurality of thought.

“The moment we stop listening to diverse opinions is also when we stop learning. Because the truth is we don’t learn much from sameness and monotony. We learn from differences.” - @Elif_Safak

One of the many things I found fascinating about this book is that Elif Shafak connects the divisions in modern day western society to group narcissism - which Deborah Orr did too, in her memoir Motherwell. Same conclusion reached from different feminist positions.

2. When I Dare to be Powerful, by Audre Lorde. Affirming yet profoundly challenging. Whenever I revisit Lorde, she gets me to think more deeply about the meanings of woman-identified life and politics as well as the racialised dynamics between women.

In “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining”, I was reminded of how evergreen Lorde’s work is. When younger feminists are rewarded for dismissing older women as “contemptible or suspect”, which often happens (especially over social media), our movement is weakened.

3. Blonde Roots, by @BernardineEvari. The premise of this book - a reversal of the transatlantic slave trade - is thought-provoking & challenging. A compelling story that makes you realise just how deeply racism is embedded in western cultural norms.